Editorial: Mercer County real estate upturn is another promising sign of recovery

A file photo of Real estate agent Jan Grutkowski and her client Charlene Becker of Hamilton Township and Becker's children Sienna (3) and Jayde (1) looking at a house for sale in Robbinsville on Friday, August 31, 2012. Martin Griff / The Times of Trenton

You may have noticed “For Sale” signs planted on neighborhood lawns being plucked more quickly lately.

Real estate activity has indeed resumed in the Mercer region with housing prices and the number of properties bought and sold rising markedly over last year.

Area Realtors are actually having trouble keeping up with the demand, as Bridget Clerkin reported last week in The Times.

It’s a welcome turnaround from the moribund market of just a few years ago when houses were selling at the tempo of a dirge.

Now, with mortgage rates of 3.5 percent available and a much sunnier economic outlook generally, houses are moving briskly.

Sellers also are gaining more from those transactions as median prices climb. In Hamilton, the median selling price rose 2.6 percent in 2012, according to statistics from a report compiled by Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors Research Division. In Hightstown, the number rose 3.6 percent during the same time period, and in Robbinsville, prices rose 5.2 percent.

In Mercer County, housing prices have risen an overall 3.6 percent from 2011 to 2012.
That’s good news for all homeowners, even those who are staying right where they are. Rising prices can help restore property values decimated by the recession. What’s more, consumer confidence and brisk sales can help energize a neighborhood and contribute to its stability. Numerous studies point to the benefits of such stability, including a stronger sense of community and a pride of ownership that translates to better upkeep.

And it’s a relief for the region as housing appears to no longer be dragging down economic growth but, in fact, contributing to that growth.

Against the backdrop of an improving national economy in which market indexes have stretched back up to pre-recession levels, one area Realtor says new building projects also are on the rise.

“We’re hearing from contractors that we’ve done business with before, and they’re saying that they’re getting busy. New construction is up, people are starting to spend money, and when that happens, it brings the economy up,” Emily Van Dyke said in an interview with Clerkin. “I think that era of doom and gloom is pretty much lifted.“

Gloom definitely remains for the homeowners holding underwater mortgages, meaning they owe more than their house is worth. But if this trend holds true, it will buoy those values as well.

We may not be out of the woods yet, but indications are that we’re on the right path.